Thank you Doc, Rob, David and "S".Walsh, As you see, it HAS been by chance that I got this theory in my head.
Two years ago on the first Waldzitherconference in Suhl, Thuringia, = there was Wolfgang Meyer, lute player and friend of cittern music, who = has sent me the "Ladies Pocket Guide" for learning. He has a great = private library of music and is a great resource of knowledge. The only = English guittar on the conference was his and I remember very well my = astonishment about this thing between the boards. We had a = discussion-workshop about the construction of the Waldzither, because = often the soundboard can't withstand the string tension. David, please be careful with your Boehm, it looks robust, but the = string tension Boehm used in 1900 was 25% lower than contemporary sets. = So it often breaks under "modern" strings. The English Guittar at the conference was somehow disappointing in its = sound, so after you all told me, it is likely, that it was just a matter = of repair added later and the soundpost is a hindrance to the sound. But the question didn't get it out of my head then, why a soundpost was = used and there was the "Krienser Halszither" with the same thing..... So = I thought it had something to do with the musical style..... The "Krienser Halszither" is perhaps influenced by violin makers. So thank you all for your answers, because here in Germany I can get = none. After you brought me back to reality, it seems logical, that neither = English Guittar nor Guitarra Portuguesa were intended to have a = soundpost. I told you before, no Waldzither has it and it would interfere with the = playing style. Martina -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
